Little public information exists on SAVAK's successor agency, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security [Vezarat-e Ettela'at va Amniat-e Keshvar - VEVAK ], initially known by the acronym SAVAMA. The agency's first director was Major General Fardust, who was arrested in December 1985 for being a "Soviet informer." But after this major arrest the
revolutionary government's keen desire to gain an upper hand over
leftist guerrilla organizations may have influenced certain IRP
leaders to relax their previously unrelenting pursuit of military
intelligence personnel.

A 1983-1984 reorganization of the security organization led by Mohammadi Rayshahri, concurrently the head of the Army Military Revolutionary Tribunal, created the Ministry of Information and
Security which assumed the role formerly played by SAVAMA.
Key religious leaders, including Majlis
speaker Hashemi-Rafsanjani, insisted on recalling former agents to
help the regime eliminate domestic opposition. Consequently, some
intelligence officers and low-ranking SAVAK and army intelligence
officials were asked to return to government service because of
their specialized knowledge of the Iranian left. Others had
acquired in-depth knowledge of Iraq's Baath Party and proved to be
invaluable in helping decision makers.

Although it was impossible to verify, observers
speculated that some of SAVAK's intelligence-gathering operations
were turned over to VEVAK. However, the ideological underpinnings of the new agency were radicallyl different from its Imperial predecessor. The Islamic Republic of Iran is Khomeini' philosophy of Velayat-e Faqih, or "Islamic Rule," which calls for imposing absolute authority over the populace, and on the other upon extending this authority to all Muslims, i.e. "exporting revolution."